Reinforced concrete components can be designed as members or as member sets. Member sets are particularly recommended for beams and columns that adjoin each other. In this way, the continuous reinforcement can be displayed in the model. However, the members with internal nodes of the On Member type also allow this type of modeling for the concrete design.
To be able to define the design parameters for a member set, select the Design Properties check box in the "Main" tab.
Member sets allow for cross-member design of the structural component. This means that several members can be considered as "one component" in the design. The member set should be a continuous member, not a "group of members" consisting of several branching members. In RSTAB, you can only design straight, uniform components as a member set; in RFEM, curved shapes are also possible.
Design of Members or Member Sets
Members that are part of a member set can be designed either as a member or using a member set. In order to avoid conflicting entries and results, the associated members are automatically deactivated in the case of the member set design. However, if you select the members of a member set for the design, the parent member set is deactivated. You can see this in the Objects to Design table: The members – or the member sets – are shown in the "Not Valid / Deactivated" column.
The Not Valid / Deactivated result table displays all members designed via a member set with a corresponding comment. This table also includes the member sets designed as members.
Make sure that the members and the member set have the same orientation. If the orientation is different, the program shows an error message when assigning the design properties.
Assigning Design Properties
You can assign the same Types for Concrete Design and parameters to the concrete design as in the case of members. Since the member set and the members contained cannot be designed at the same time, a message appears when activating the "design properties" in order to prevent contradicting definition criteria. If you assign the design properties to a member set, then all of its members receive the design property "Via parent member set".
If the member is not yet assigned to a member set, you can use the
button in the "Design Properties" section to create a new member set. Use the
button to open the editing dialog box for the selected parent member set.